Endothelial progenitors in sepsis: vox clamantis in deserto?

In this issue of Critical Care, Patschan and colleagues present a study of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) in patients with sepsis. The importance of this study is in focusing attention on several frequently ignored aspects of sepsis. Among those are the phenomenon of microvascular dysfunction, which is potentially responsible for profound metabolic perturbations at the tissue level, and the role of endothelial progenitors in repair processes. Other important aspects of the study are the regenerative capacity of mobilized EPCs and the dissociation between the numerical value and clonogenic competence. Attempting to restore the competence to EPCs should be a priority in the future.